Let’s not sugar coat this thing: the crowd scenes from the Home Depot Center last night are an embarrassment to Major League Soccer.

And everyone knows it.

Chivas USA’s announced attendance was 7,212 … and it looks highly dubious as an actual attendance count. (Teams across all sports routinely announce “tickets distributed” as the attendance, so Chivas USA is doing nothing unusual there.)

But the eyes don’t lie. And the staggering number of empty seats at the Home Depot Center last night had MLS fans and pundits abuzz. Truly, if Chivas USA cannot sell more seats for opening night, on a Saturday, what in the world will some random Wednesday match against Toronto or New England look like?

(In fairness, the picture you see was taken prior to kickoff Saturday; but the picture didn’t look much better 30 minutes into Saturday’s loss.)